1. |
Still We Try
05:22
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Semi-trucks and minivans
We all join in the jam
Holidays in our own ovens
With a soft soprano serenade in stereo
Homewardbound, a thousand towns and
Cities that all share a common route
Only slowly going nowhere
Nowhere in a cloud
And still, we still, we try. Still we still we try.
Fire fighting fire every side of the parade
A grand display designed to make you venerate
The victories, the tragedies
The blood that stains the clay
But however far we travel we can never,
Never get away
And still we still we try. Still we still we try. Still we still we try. Still we still we try.
Demo dust and diesel fumes, hovering in the air
A stagnant layer of poison our vehicles are swimming to deliver us
A dozen years could easily stretch a century
If measured by the flood of sweat and tears
And silent cries that echo in our ears
And still we still we try. Still we still we try. Still we still we try. Still we still we try.
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2. |
Idle By
03:31
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A billowing smoke stack a heart of coal,
The willows quit weeping for our tarnished souls,
Spilling out blood black, lost control,
Never been so broken, never be made whole
Idle by idle by, we raze the land and slay the sky
Idle by idle by, its a slow burn suicide
Barrelling blindly, a famished beast,
A harrowing nightmare at a ravaged feast,
The arrows will find me when i expect it least,
I swear I been sweating in this savage heat
Idle by, idle by, we raze the land and slay the sky,
Idle by, idle by, its a slow burn suicide
Idle by, idle by, we raze the land and slay the sky,
Idle by, idle by, its a slow burn suicide
Idle by, idle by, it stains our hands and drains us dry
Idle by, idle by, we might be damned but still we try
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3. |
Holy Smoke
03:13
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Holy smoke and holy flame
More than that, what can you claim?
Holy smoke and holy flame
Rattled bones on rocky roads
And sunset shadows cast
We’ll find ourselves a telescope
And gaze into the past
And vast unknown
Distant wisps of dust and mist, a sage brush prairie sky
Will we gaze in deep enough to penetrate the night
Those rainbow signs
Halos for our minds
The veils all thrown aside
Holy smoke and holy flame
More than that, what can you claim?
Holy smoke and holy flame
Rushing to relax our burden, worried sick our bodies hurting
Prairie sky a sequined curtain, begging us to pry
To pull it open wide, to stare it in the eye
The veils all thrown aside
The halos for our minds
Those rainbow signs
Holy smoke and holy flame
More than that what can you claim?
Holy smoke and holy flame
Holy smoke and holy flame
A rose by any other name
Holy smoke and holy flame
Holy smoke and holy flame
More than that what can you claim?
Holy smoke and holy flame
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4. |
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Green plastic pistol and red snouted rifle
Camouflage t-shirt, bandana and bicycle
Cul-du-sac laps in the midsummer blaze
Blood sports and war games are all that he plays
In the middle of nowhere forever ago
A middle school soldier, eleven years old
Madness and mayhem are all that he knows
In the middle of nowhere forever ago
Out through the window and into the darkness
Restlessly wandering neighborhood yards
And his heart is a hornet’s nest, too spooked to sleep
Daggers and demons in all of his dreams
In the middle of nowhere forever ago
A middle school soldier, eleven years old
Madness and mayhem are all that he know
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
A wild eyed child with no hand to hold
Living a life spinning out of control
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
Sprinklers at dawn after all night exploring
Whispers of fog at the first light of morning
His eyes see the signs but his mind never reads
Barbed wire sunrise is all that he breathes
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
A middle school soldier, eleven years old
Madness and mayhem are all that he knows
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
A wild eyed child with no hand to hold
Living a life spinning out of control
In the middle of nowhere, forever ago
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5. |
Always Halfway Closer
04:01
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We had our mind made
Just had to find the right wave
To ride beyond the border
Tossed up and let drop
Just had to hit the right spot
To find a little order
And every turn
Lurked a lesson like we’d always hoped to learn
And for all the common sense we almost earned
It’s incredible we never crashed and burned, burned
Each fence was miles high
Yet low enough for us to climb
Like nothing to get over
Until our destinies divide
Like a pair of diamond eyes
Drifting from each other
And every move
We were always halfway closer to the truth
And for all the common sense we could have used
It’s incredible we never caught the blues, blues
Those days were painted gold
And every stretch of every road
Outsparkled every other
And every turn
Lurked a lesson like we’d always hoped to learn
And for all the common sense we almost earned
It’s incredible we never crashed and burned
And for all the common sense we could have used
We were always halfway closer to the truth
It’s incredible we never caught the blues, blues
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6. |
Wildfire Mountain
05:05
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Burn my eyes and bleach my mind
Blend into the cloudless skies, I’m grieving you
Got to get their bread and wine
Got the gall to cut the line and steal from you
Way up high on wildfire mountain
Golden meadows glowing like the sun
It’s all we ever done, falls on everyone
Oh I missed you from the moment you were gone
Actions planned and oaths abandoned
Stranded in the smoke to know what’s real in you
A raven with a writhing rat flies high above this habitat
As if fleeing with you
A valley floor to lord above, boiled dry and blackened crust
They made a meal of you
Way up high on wildfire mountain
Golden meadows glowing like the sun
It’s all we ever done, falls on everyone
Oh I missed you from the moment you were gone
I missed you from the moment you were gone
I come here to commune, to be consumed, to shed my skin
And be revealed to you
But they’re there ‘til there’s nothing left, just wipe the board with every step,
They run the field with you
Tear the ceiling with your tears, comes back every fourteen years
Good god, I gotta hope that we can heal you
Way up high on wildfire mountain
Golden meadows glowing like the sun
It’s all we ever done, falls on everyone
Oh I missed you from the moment you were gone
Oh I missed you from the moment you were gone
I missed you from the moment you were gone
I missed you from the moment you were gone
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7. |
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I saw you swallowing the shadows, called but could not get across
Falling fast as I could follow, all is lost
All is lost and gone, you said, ain’t nothing left to defend
But all this darkness will dissolve when the full moon ascends
And the full moon will come back again
Full moon will come back again
It’ll scatter the shadows, illuminate everything
Who will you choose to fear?
Fangs will be drained when the motives are clear
The truth is a radiant light
Ascends in the heavens, severs the night
And all this darkness will dissolve, gone like a fog in the wind
And all that’s lost will be recalled, when the full moon ascends
Remove those shackles and chains
Undo the nooses, grab them as reins
And who will you prove to be,
In the eye of the storm, in this state of emergency?
The future ain’t written in stone
And you don’t have to take it or face it alone
I saw you swallowing the shadows, watched your darkest hour descend
But when that full moon shows, I know you’ll never give in
All this darkness will dissolve, gone like a fog in the wind
And all that’s lost will be recalled when the full moon ascends
All of this darkness has always enveloped us
Always enclosing all hellish and venomous
Almost too much but it’s all on a pendulum
I know I’ll never give in
So tell me you’ll never give in
And the full moon will come back again
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8. |
Ashes In The Mist
04:35
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If I should fall from off my perch and dust to dust return to earth
Would you yet regret my birth?
Was everything for nothing?
And if at last the sky departs, no day or night just light and dark
Would all the blood that fills your heart
Still pour out every morning?
The match is a flash and the wick burns quick
The smoke rolls slow and the clouds grow thick
This time tomorrow, well who knows who you’ll be with
When that body that you borrowed is ashes in the mist
And if I tried to diagnose just who’s the pest and who’s the host
Could I guess it even close,
When both are so absorbing?
When all the peasants storm the lots, and empty every big blue box,
And rip the pavement off the rocks,
Will that not count as earning?
The match is a flash and the wick burns quick
The smoke rolls slow and the clouds grow thick
This time tomorrow, well who knows who you’ll be with
When that body that you borrowed is ashes in the mist
When all the prophets on the walls that towered till their fatal falls
Are all exposed as lies and dolls,
Will you still seek their pardon?
And if the truth shall be revealed, and every code and law repealed,
All the cards remixed, redealed,
Would you still risk the bargain?
The match is a flash and the wick burns quick
The smoke rolls slow and the clouds grow thick
This time tomorrow, well who knows who you’ll be with
When that body that you borrowed is ashes in the mist
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9. |
Before It's Too Late
04:10
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Born to complain, if I could only open up your cage
Would you fly, or sink inside your precious hell?
A lifetime left to dwell, to adorn the corners of your cell
Safe and warm to stay and mourn your former self
Rise with the tide, don’t insist on twisting up inside
Break the chains that bear the weights that drag you down
Before your time runs out, or do you choose to droop and drown?
‘Cause the tide is rising even now
So take a stand, embrace a chance to change
To levitate to leap with all your faith
To fly away, the waves will claim you anyday
Don’t stay stuck on all your old mistakes
The choice is yours to make
Before, before it’s too late
Before you’ve sealed your fate
Before, before it’s too late
So take a stand, embrace a chance to change
To levitate, to leap with all your faith
To fly away, the waves will claim you anyday
Don’t stay stuck on all your old mistakes
The choice is yours to make
How much more convincing could you take
The choice is yours to make
Before, before it’s too late
Before you’ve sealed your fate
Before, before it’s too late
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10. |
Falling Leaves
03:58
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When you’re standing in line
The line controls your speed
We were coming down
Crashing through the leaves
It’s just a matter of time
To justify these means
Keep on smiling, babe
Strain it through your teeth
We all fall down, like falling leaves
I swallow, and fight the urge to breathe
On the banks of the Rhine
The mud, the gold, the greed
You’re the prophet, babe
The future’s history
But can you capture my size,
My strength, my soul, the whole sad scene
I was there for you
Where were you for me?
We all fall down, like falling leaves
I swallow and fight the urge to breathe
We all fall down, like falling leaves
I follow and love my enemies
We all fall down, like falling leaves
I swallow and fight the urge to breathe
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Sam Cooper Portland, Oregon
Sam Cooper wears all the hats, performer, producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and that's just the figurative hats.
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